


Risky Business

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Don't Like Don't Read, Embarrassment, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Insecure Lance (Voltron), Lance makes some questionable decisions, Minor Injuries, Non-Consensual Spanking, Shiro is so tired, just another spanking fic, let him rest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-11-22 18:12:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11385639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: “'What are you doing?' Lance asked with a frantic edge to his voice.'Taking you down a peg.'”





	Risky Business

**Author's Note:**

> There's a tumblr post that says something like "Shiro is the paladin's adult supervision. Coran is Shiros." 
> 
> Yeah

Shiro swerved and dodged, ducking around a Galra ship and knocking into another sideways while Pidge fired a barrage of shots to take out the cruisers behind him.  The battle was not going great, a simple resource mission gone wrong.  The planet hadn’t looked occupied from the outside, and they’d thought it would be an easy trip to stop by, grab some supplies, and head back along their way.  The Galra didn’t appreciate their visit, and it had quickly gone to hell. 

 

If Shiro wasn’t so used to things going terribly wrong he might have been upset.  As it was, even if today was horrible, it was still just another day. 

 

The worst part was that they couldn’t form Voltron.  Earlier that day Lance had taken some heavy fire, enough to take his lion offline for a while and knock his helmet clean off, resulting in a nasty split head and a lot of dizziness.  The healing pods were out of commission, and one of the supplies they were supposed to pick up was to fix them (some kind of…. energy reactor…?  Shiro wasn’t sure exactly, but they’d sent Keith to the surface with a carefully sketched model of what he was looking for.  Hunk said he had full faith in him finding it.  Shiro had resorted to praying.).

 

Because of the injury though, Lance was under strict orders not to leave the castle under any circumstances.  They could handle this one.  They’d handled worse.  Lance hadn’t been happy with the order, but it was for his own good.  Shiro was happier knowing he was safe for now. 

 

That was, until Hunk’s voice cried out a warning over the coms, and Shiro spun around to find three Galra cruisers right on his flank.  He whipped back, startled, preparing to retreat back a bit and regroup when the Galra ships on top of him flashed into blocks of ice.  They idled, floating uselessly in the zero-g.  Shiro back peddled, searching the space around him, blew an approaching ship out of the sky, and that’s when he spotted the blue lion.

 

“Lance!?” Pidge’s voice shouted over the coms.  “What are you doing here?” 

 

Hunk exclaimed, “Nice one, buddy! How you feeling?”

 

“Never been better,” Lance’s voice answered.  “Let’s blow this up.  How’s it going, Keith?” 

 

Keith’s voice was a whisper in response. “I’m on my way out.  Got the goods.” 

 

“Way to go!” Pidge shouted, and Shiro was relieved that this was almost over.  He was glad Keith was almost safe and out of there.  It was the point in the battle when he was sure they were on the homestretch.  He was sure it was going to be okay.

 

That, of course, was when it all went to shit.  Red flew out of the planet’s atmosphere, darting through the stars.  Pidge tangled two approaching ships up in vines, tying them securely to each other and whipping them away.  Hunk slammed into them sideways, sending them hurtling.  Shiro was distracted by that, by fighting off the ships surrounding him, by watching Keith dart around asteroids and wondering what the hell  _ Lance _ was doing out of the castle.  He was distracted, yeah, but he caught the scene just as it was going down in his peripheral vision. 

 

Lance was surrounded, the blue lion reeling and Lance silent over the coms, which he only ever was when he was panicking.  Shiro cursed under his breath, spun his lion around, and went to fly to Lance’s rescue when the lasers went off.  Three different laser beams directly struck Blue, covering her in crackles of electricity like lightning.  Lance screamed.  Blue’s lights flickered and went off, the lion going still.  Shiro shouted his name over the coms and raced over to him. 

 

“Back to the castle!” Shiro ordered, trying and failing to keep the panic out of his voice.  “Let’s go! Now!” 

 

Black caught the blue lion in it’s jaws, the both of them ignoring the threat of electrocution from any leftover energy.  They flew back to the castle, the others hot on their tail, and that was the end of that. 

 

 

 

…

 

 

“You ought to get some rest,” Coran said, startling Shiro out of his half-awake stupor.  He rubbed his eyes and pushed up from the wall he was slouching against, turning to face Coran in the low light of the late night castle.  His eyes were burning, hot and tired from exhaustion.  He’d been damn near asleep on his feet.  Coran was right, of course.  It wasn’t doing him any good to stay awake waiting.  They hadn’t gotten any sleep in the last several days, and a few hours ago Shiro had sent the other drowsy paladins off to bed, promising to wake them if anything changed.  

 

Keith had been so tired that Hunk had had to shake him awake where he was curled up on the floor, and he actually accepted the piggy back ride Hunk offered him.  The three slouched out of the room, and Shiro pried his eyes open and steeled himself to stay awake. 

 

He’d only been mildly successful. 

 

“You’re going to burn yourself out staying up like this,” Coran said, voice gentle but reprimand obvious.  It sounded a lot like Commander Holt, who’d been known to corner Matt and Shiro during their months long journey to Kerberos and all but force them to take care of themselves, chasing away travel induced depression with stern care taking.

 

Obviously Shiro was starting to fray at the edges if he was feeling all sentimental.  He had to get it together. 

 

“He could have died,” Shiro said instead of responding appropriately.  “Twice, today.  He….” 

 

“He’s safe now,” Coran answered, and his hand on Shiro’s shoulder was a welcomed gesture of affection.  Shiro didn’t let himself lean into it.  “There’s no good in fretting over it now.  You’re going to make yourself sick.” 

 

“I just don’t know what to do with him, Coran,” Shiro admitted.  “He went against direct orders.  He put everyone in danger.  He could have gotten himself killed.” He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.  “ _ Twice _ .  You think I should do something about this?”

 

“I think somebody has to,” Coran answered.  “You should talk to him about it-”

 

“You know he won’t listen,” Shiro sighed. 

 

Coran nodded, face thoughtful.  “Find a way to catch his attention.” he suggested.  His mustache twitched with the slightest hint of a smile.  “Back in my day we had a quite effective way of dealing with disobedient youngsters.”

 

Shiro couldn’t have known what Coran was talking about, probably wouldn’t be able to guess in a hundred years.  Altean culture was so different from Earth, it would be foolish to assume an overlap.  Regardless, a thought immediately came to mind.  Shiro’s own grandfather had said those words before; the memory was crystal clear, and that man had a  _ very _ effective way of discouraging bad behavior.  Shiro cringed at the memory. 

 

He couldn’t believe he was even considering it.  He pushed it out of his mind and scrubbed his hand over his face again. “I’ll think of something,” he assured Coran.  “I’ll take care of it.” 

 

“Of course you will.  You’re reliable!” It was far too late for Coran to sound that chipper.  He clapped Shiro on the shoulder again, with more force than he probably meant to put into it.  Altean strength was incredible. Shiro staggered a bit.  “But first, you should rest.” 

 

Coran wasn’t going to back down about that.  Shiro grinned and rolled his eyes a bit, raising his hands up in surrender and letting Coran propel him from the room with a hand on his back.  “Okay, okay,” he said.  “I’ll go to bed.” 

 

“I’ll keep an eye on Lance and alert you all when he wakes.  It should be a few vargas still.” 

 

“Thanks, Coran.” 

 

Shiro retreated to his room and collapsed into bed.  He had a lot to think about, but exhaustion made rest come easy.  He closed his eyes and thought about the conversation he’d have to have tomorrow morning, the direction it might have to take.  But extra worry never did any good, and Shiro had enough restlessness without making it worse for himself.  Before long he shut his thoughts off, pulled the blankets up higher, and relaxed as he faded into sleep.

 

 

…

 

 

Allura’s voice over the intercom is what woke Shiro from his slumber.  It hadn’t been anywhere near long enough, and he still felt that exhausted pull on his eyelids.  Her voice didn’t sound urgent, nor did her message, so he took his time swinging his legs over the side of his bed and rubbing his hands over his face.  

 

He’d been more tired in prison.  Hell, he’d been more tired during training for Kerberos.  He was obviously getting soft, so hid a yawn behind his hand and shoved himself to his feet, telling himself to man up and catch up on rest later.

 

Everyone else beat him to the medical bay, and he walked through the door in time to see Pidge shaking Lance by the shoulders and telling him to ‘ _ never do something that stupid again, Lance, I swear to God _ .’  Hunk pulled Lance in firmly against his side for what was probably their third hug or so. Keith and Allura both idled closely on the sidelines, faces concerned and relieved, expressing their gratitude for his health in their own way. 

 

Coran was chattering away, talking about how Lance had “given us quite a scare, boy.  Your human brains are so delicate, we really ought to look at redesigning those helmets.” 

 

“I’ll start work with some sketches,” Pidge said.  “Hunk, you still have those notes you were making on shock absorption?” 

 

“You know it.” 

 

Lance groaned and tipped his head onto Hunk’s shoulder.  “Please, guys, I just woke up.  Can’t your nerd talk wait a while?” There was a pink scar through his eyebrow where his head had been split open during their first battle and reopened during their second.  The bruising around his eyes was gone, ashen appearance replaced with his normal, healthy skin tone.  Shiro was beyond relieved that he was okay.

 

“For you, buddy? Sure,” Hunk replied, while Pidge muttered “Loser,” under her breath and ruffled Lance’s hair.  Shiro took a step farther into the room, drawing their attention.  The amount of apprehension each one of them shot him was incredible. Hunk looked nervous, Pidge and Allura both looked oddly determined, and Keith was casting quick glances between Shiro and Lance.  Lance, to his credit, had the good sense to look at least mildly embarrassed. 

 

Shiro decided their talk could wait.  “Glad to see you’re feeling better,” he said, shooting Lance a small smile.  “You scared us, out there.” 

 

There was hesitation in Lance’s body language, nevertheless he put his chin up and pressed his mouth into a firm line.  “I’m not an amateur.” 

 

Yeah, talking was going to be fun. Shiro would like to point out that Lance definitely  _ was _ an amateur- they all were, technically.  He didn’t say anything though. 

 

“Hungry?” he asked, a peace offering. 

 

Lance’s guard dropped slightly. He grinned.  “Starving.” 

 

Coran took that as his chance to jump in.  “Perfect,” he said.  “I’ve whipped up the perfect healing meal, packed with the necessary components to get a young body running again.”  

 

Lance’s grin dropped.  “Oh boy… Thanks, Coran….”

 

It was a bit of a whirlwind of activity after that, all of them whisking Lance away to the dining hall to eat, Pidge and Hunk still loudly expressing their discontent the entire time.  Lance let them, laughing along and shrugging it all off like a joke, same way they were.  Shiro stayed quiet and focused on his own meal, choking down Coran’s cooking with as much politeness as he could manage.  Keith was quiet as well, eyes red in a way that suggested he hadn’t gotten any real sleep the night before.  Allura caught Shiro’s eye every so often, and her expression was grim and serious, clearly saying ‘you’d better do something before I do.’  Shiro nodded back. 

 

Once the food was cleared, Keith rising from the dead to help Coran carry the dishes back into the kitchen, Shiro got to his feet.  He stopped expectantly, and they all dropped quiet from the attention. 

 

“Lance,” he said, causing the young man’s head to snap up.  “I’d like to speak with you.  Go ahead and get yourself dressed, then head over to my room.” 

 

Lance blinked a few times before nodding mutely.  

 

Pidge was the one that broke the pregnant silence following.  “Ooooooh,” she sang quietly, much like a middle school child would when someone gets called to the principal’s office.  Hunk laughed and joined in.  Lance elbowed the both of them, sour expression on his face. 

 

 

**…**

 

It was a little less than half an hour later when there was a knock on Shiro’s door.  He called for them to come on in, setting his information pad aside and watching the door slide open as Lance stepped in.  He was out of the white medical suit, back into his normal Earth clothes.  He stuck his hands in his pockets and idled by the door.  Whether he looked casual intentionally or just naturally, Shiro wasn’t sure.  He decided he’d rather have this conversation standing. 

 

“You said you wanted to speak with me?” Lance said, puffing his cheeks out and rocking back on his heels. 

 

“That’s right,” Shiro nodded.  It was best to cut to the chase.  Shiro hated having talks like this.  It made him feel like he was in high school again, staying after class or having a talk with the principal.  It felt unnatural being on the “other side of the desk.”  He wasn’t old enough for this.  He’d only been an officer for a few months before being sent off to Kerberos. 

 

Whether or not he liked it, it had to be done.  Coran was right.  Somebody had to talk some sense into Lance.  “I wanted to know what was going through your mind yesterday, when you decided leaving the castle was a good idea.”  God, he sounded like his grandfather.  Lance scowled.

 

“Um,” he started, crossing his arms over his chest and looking away uncomfortably.  “You guys needed my help out there.” 

 

“We were doing fine on our own.” 

 

Lance rolled his eyes.  “You were getting your asses kicked.  And we  _ won _ , didn’t we?” 

 

Shiro raised his chin a bit.  “We retreated.  We were entirely overwhelmed, and that was  _ before _ we had to worry about you out there.” 

 

This time Lance audibly scoffed. “You don’t have to worry about me,” he said.  “I’m a paladin of  _ Voltron _ , Shiro.  You think I don’t know what I’m doing out there?” 

 

Shiro’s voice was stern when he snapped back, “I think you weren’t at your best yesterday.  You were injured, and you put all of us at risk.” 

 

Lance sighed loudly, shoulders rising as he did so.  He always spoke with his entire body when he got worked up.  This wasn’t going well.  “Well sor- _ ry _ for trying to help.”

 

Shiro wanted to smash his head into the wall.  “You should be sorry. Lance, you have got to take this more seriously!”

 

“Take  _ what _ more seriously?  I got hurt!  So what! We get hurt all the time.  You can’t expect me to just sit on the bench when you need me,” Lance snapped, voice dripping with attitude.  Coran’s words ran through Shiro’s head- ‘ _ catch his attention.’ _  He thought about his grandfather. He crossed his arms again and stepped forward. 

 

“I expect you to obey orders.  Allura and I both told you to stay in the castle, and you deliberately disobeyed us.”

 

“I can make my own decisions, Shiro!” Lance exclaimed. 

 

Shiro’s eyes narrowed, voice rising.  “Not in battle.  We work as a team, and I expect you to follow orders when they’re given to you.  No questions.  No exceptions.” 

 

Lance practically growled as he threw his hands up and started to pace.  “You sound  _ just _ like the Garrison,” he snapped.  “It’s not a big deal.  I’m  _ fine _ .” 

 

Shiro shouted back, “You could have died!  You put the entire team at risk!” 

 

The hurt that flashed over Lance’s face was brief but genuine.  Blink and you miss it, he quickly steeled his expression back into anger and clenched his fists.  What he said next actually caught Shiro by surprise.  “Fuck you,” he bit out.

 

Shiro had to take a moment so he wouldn’t kill him.  After a deep breath, he opened his eyes again and set his jaw. “I’ve had just about enough of you today,” Shiro ground out.  “Your attitude is out of hand, and it’s time we deal with it.”

 

Something akin to fear appeared in Lance’s eyes, but Shiro was beyond giving a fuck.  He marched over, gripped Lance tightly by the arm, and hauled him across the room.  Lance was too surprised to fight him on it, simply stumbling over his feet as he followed.

 

“What are you doing?” Lance asked with a frantic edge to his voice.  

 

“Taking you down a peg.”  Shiro sat down on the edge of his bed and tugged Lance down over his lap, upper body on the mattress, mile long legs hanging off the edge.  He planted his metal hand in the middle of his back and held Lance down.

 

Lance stiffened up, apparently piecing together what was about to go down.  “Wait, Shiro, what are you-” 

 

Shiro lifted his arm and brought his hand down hard.  Lance froze and gasped.  Shiro waited for more of a response, almost as surprised at himself as he was sure Lance was.  But if he’d started this, he had to finish it.  When Lance didn’t give anymore of a response, Shiro raised his hand and spanked him again.  This time he got a yelp.  He swallowed his guilt and did it again. 

 

After six swats Lance started to squirm a bit.  “Okay,” he said.  “Okay, very funny, Shiro.  I get it.  You can let me up now.” There was a tint of laughter in his voice, but it was forced, sounding like it didn’t belong there.  Shiro hit him again, and Lance flinched, breath coming out in a hiss. 

 

“This isn’t a joke,” Shiro said.  “And you’re staying here until you’ve learned your lesson.” 

 

“I’ve learned!” Lance bit out, trying to shove himself off of Shiro’s lap.  “Ow, fuck, Shiro let me  _ go _ .”  He reached his hands back to grab at Shiro, so Shiro paused to gather both of his wrists in one hand and pin them to the small of his back.  He started spanking again, picking up the pace and not keeping count.  Lance yelped and kicked out against him.

 

“You can’t do this,” Lance said, glaring at Shiro over his shoulder.  “Let me go, I’m serious!” 

 

“So am I, kiddo,” Shiro replied, spanking faster as Lance continued to squirm.  

 

“I’m  _ not _ a  _ kid _ !” Lance spat, and then yelped when Shiro struck his upper thigh. 

 

Shiro said, “I don’t care.  You disobey me, you give me attitude, this is what you get.” 

 

Lance growled and kicked out again, burying his head in the bed before going still.  “This is so stupid,” he complained.  Shiro didn’t answer that one.  He knew Lance thought this was unfair, but if beating his ass was what it took to get Lance to shut up and listen to him, then he was willing to try it.  If a spanking kept Lance from getting himself killed, then it was worth it. 

 

But within a short amount of time, Shiro’s hand was starting to ache from striking the seat of Lance’s jeans.  There was no way it wasn’t hurting Shiro more than it was hurting Lance right now, and with the latter finally having given up on arguing, Shiro decided it was time to stop for a moment and shake his hand out.  

 

Lance looked back at him curiously, and when Shiro urged him up to his feet he looked startled, if not relieved.  They weren’t done yet, though.  Lance stood there next to him, face tinged with a blush either from adrenalin or embarrassment, hands rubbing at the seat of his pants.  His face was a mix of defiance and pouting, and there were tears clinging to the corners of his eyes.  Shiro said, “Pull your pants down and get back here,” and Lance’s face got impossibly redder. 

 

Lance stared back at him stubbornly, not moving a muscle and looking as mortified and pleading as humanly possible.  Shiro almost felt bad for him, then he remembered everything that had happened that day and changed his mind.  He frowned.  “ _ Now _ , Lance.”

 

The bark in his voice sprung Lance into action, and while he sighed loudly and roll his eyes, he did push his pants down.  Shiro wasted no time pulling Lance back over his knee, and this time when he spanked him, Lance groaned. 

 

“Ready to talk yet?” Shiro asked him, picking up and even pace that had Lance biting back grunts and gasps.   Lance didn’t respond, so Shiro decided to get his piece out while he had Lance’s attention.  “I don’t go giving orders for no reason.  You know better than that by now. If I tell you to do something, it’s for your own safety and the safety of the team.  You hear me?” 

 

_ You hear me? _  God, Shiro sounded like somebody’s mother.  

 

Lance bit back a groan and nodded.  “Yes!” 

 

“You had a concussion.  You were in no shape to be flying, and you were dead weight out there.  It’s hard enough fighting without having to worry that you’re alright.”

 

“You don’t have to worry about me,” Lance snapped back.  Shiro put a bit more force behind the next smack, actually jolting Lance forward on his lap.  He cried out. 

 

“Today I did.  You let yourself get ambushed, damaged Blue, and cracked your damn head open.  You weren’t responsive.  You could have died.  Do you realize that?  Do you realize how serious this could have been?” The panic from earlier was welling up in Shiro’s chest again, and he worked it out through a series of lightning fast strikes.  Lance cried out at the onslaught and clutched onto the blankets on the bed. 

 

“Ow, ow,  _ ow!  Yes! _ ” 

 

“You need to think before you do things.  We can’t afford you being this reckless.”

 

“Okay!  _ Aie! _  That hurts!” 

 

“It’s supposed to hurt,” Shiro scolded.  “Maybe you’ll remember this next time you consider putting yourself in unnecessary danger.  Because I swear, if you ever do something that stupid again I will beat your ass in front of everybody.” 

 

“You wouldn’t d- hey!” Shiro grabbed onto the waistband of Lance’s boxer briefs and tugged them down his thighs.  His skin was already a dark pink, and it bounced when Shiro smacked it again. Lance whimpered and hid his face back in the bed, muffling any noise with the fabric. 

 

Shiro kept it up for a little while before speaking again, listening to the response he was getting from Lance and knowing they were reaching a breaking point.  He didn’t want to push too far, didn’t want to  _ hurt _ the kid, just wanted something Lance wasn’t going to forget about very quickly.  Once Lance’s ass was properly red, Shiro slowed his pace down and asked again, “Why are we doing this?” 

 

Lance whined in his throat and tangled his hands up in his hair, not picking his head up to reply.  “I didn’t listen to you.  I put everyone in danger.” 

 

“You did.  You scared the hell out of us,” Shiro scolded. Lance’s breath hitched. 

 

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, breath hitching.  He jumped with each spank now, no longer able to hold back yelps and whimpers.  “I wasn’t trying to scare anyone, or- ah!- or make you mad, I just… I was- ow!- I was just trying to be good enough for Voltron.” 

 

Shiro hadn’t been expecting that last part, and he actually wasn’t sure what to do with that confession.  He had no idea what Lance was talking about.  He stopped, letting his hand fall to his side while his metal one stroked soothing circles on Lance’s back.  He hadn’t realized he’d been doing that.  Lance was trembling.  He hadn’t realized that either. 

 

Now that he was no longer holding him down, Lance pushed himself up off his lap and Shiro let him go.  He sniffled and tugged his pants back into place, eyes still downcast and blush on his face an amazing scarlet color.  There were tears rolling down his cheeks.  He reached up and swiped them away.

 

Lance kept his eyes on the floor as he explained.  “I guess… why does it matter if I die?  I’d be pretty easy to replace.  But if I’m not fighting then why am I even part of Voltron?”  More tears welled up in his eyes at that, and he blinked several times in response.

 

Shiro didn’t know what to say- he needed a moment to process.  Instead of saying anything, he stood and pulled Lance into a hug.  Lance stiffened for the briefest second before stepping into the embrace and dropping his head onto Shiro’s shoulder.  

 

“It matters,” Shiro told him, wrapping him up as tight as he could.  Lance was overheated and sweaty in his arms, the slightest tremor still running through him.  “I did this because I was worried about you.  Do you think I would have done all this if you weren’t important to us?” 

 

Lance sniffled again.  “You might…” he murmured.  “I pissed you off pretty bad.” 

 

Shiro could appreciate Lance trying to bring humor back into the conversation, knew that was what he did when he was uncomfortable.  Shiro sighed.  “You are pretty good at that,” he agreed. 

 

“One of my many talents.” 

 

“Many talents,” Shiro agreed.  “Which is why you’re an important part of Voltron.”  Now he seriously did sound like someone’s mom, or more specifically like Sam Holt.  Shiro needed to unwind before he aged twenty years and started wearing argyle socks.  This was becoming a problem.

 

“Are you okay?” he asked Lance, just to be sure.  

 

Lance made a ‘pshhh’ sound, pulling himself free from the hug and waving a dismissive hand at Shiro.  “I’m fine, for real.  It takes more than that to get me.” 

 

Shiro didn’t bother mentioning that Lance still had tears drying on his face.  He nodded.  “Good.  Don’t make me do it again.  You do something that stupid again and I will.” 

 

Lance took another half-step back and clasped his hands protectively behind his back.  “Not a problem.  Got the message, loud and clear.”  He offered up a cheesy grin, but then it faded, and the remaining smile was kind of sheepish.  “You won’t tell the guys about this, right?” 

 

Shiro chuckled and shook his head.  “It’s none of their business anyways.” 

 

“Thanks, man.” 

 

 

…

 

 

“What?  No way.” 

 

“Yes way!” 

 

“Show me!” 

 

“Fine!” 

 

“... Oh wow.” 

 

“Told you- ow!  Hunk! Stop laughing!” 

 

 

…

 

 

It was only a few weeks after that when Keith broke his leg on a mission.  “It’s not that bad,” he complained, struggling up to his feet and leaning most of his bodyweight on a nearby tree, face ashen and sweaty from the pain.  “I’m fine.” 

 

“You can’t even walk.  You’re not staying out here like this,” Shiro replied.  “I’ll call Coran and have him open the castle up.” 

 

“What? No!  I’m not leaving in the middle of a mission!” Keith argued. 

 

“You’re going back and that’s an order!”

 

Keith narrowed his eyes and took a defiant step forward.  As soon as he put pressure on his hurt leg he stumbled, a broken cry ripping its way out of his throat.  Lance, the closest one to him, caught him and looped his arm under Keith’s shoulders to keep him upright.

 

“Just listen to him, trust me,” Lance murmured to Keith.  “It’s for your own good.” 

 

Keith grumbled something under his breath that Lance didn’t catch, but he  _ did _ catch the amused expression Shiro was sending his way.  Lance shot back the cheesiest smile he could manage.  “I’ll escort him back,” Lance declared.  “Don’t wait up for me.  How are we doing this?  Princess style, or piggy back?” 

 

“You’re  _ not _ carrying me,” Keith growled out, trying and failing to take another step, even with Lance’s assistance.  

 

“Fireman carry it is, then.”  Lance swooped down and easily threw Keith over both his shoulders, and he ignored his loud protesting as he started the walk back to the castle.  

 

Halfway there Keith asked, “What do you mean I don’t want to get into it with Shiro?  What’s the worst he can do?” 

 

Lance felt a phantom pain, similar to the one that had haunted him for a good two days after his and Shiro’s… erm… altercation. “Trust me, dude, you don’t want to find out.” 

 

“Put me down, Lance.” 

 

“Not on your life, mullet.”

**Author's Note:**

> anon on tumblr requested a gen spanking fic, so here you go! 
> 
> Also I adamantly believe Lance is one of those people who makes you swear to keep a secret and then runs off and tells everyone. Lance showing Hunk his red ass? One of the funniest mental images I've had all week.
> 
> Send me prompts if you want! I get bored. And comments are always, always appreciated <3


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